O'Reilly NOOK, Manual

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rooTIng Your nooK
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• Replace the NOOK’s software in its flash memory. The flash memory is the
memory built right into the NOOK hardware. When you use this method,
you’re directly replacing the NOOK’s operating system with version 2.3 of
Android. This voids your warranty. And if you change your mind and want
to return your NOOK to its original state, bear in mind that while it’s theo-
retically possible to unroot your NOOK (page 429), there’s no guarantee
that it’ll work.
There are pros and cons to each method of rooting, but most people who want
to root their NOOKs are better off using the microSD card method. Here are the
pros and cons:
• Using the microSD method doesn’t void your warranty because you’re
not altering the NOOK itself. You also don’t risk bricking your NOOK.
• Using the microSD method makes it easy to switch between Android and
the NOOK’s built-in software. Boot into Android from a microSD card, and
then when you want to use the NOOK’s built-in software, take out the card
and restart your NOOK.
• Rooting the NOOK’s built-in flash memory makes the NOOK run faster
compared with the microSD method. That’s because built-in flash memory
is faster than the memory on a microSD card, and so running Android from
it is faster than running it from a microSD card.
What You Need to Know about the
NOOK Software and Rooting
When the NOOK Color was first released, it was relatively easy to root. That’s
because Barnes & Noble didn’t notice that people were trying to root the device.
By the time the NOOK Tablet came out, though, Barnes & Noble had taken
notice and built anti-rooting technology into the NOOK Color. But the NOOK
Tablet was left alone and was still relatively easy to root.
All that changed in late 2011 and early 2012, however. That’s when Barnes &
Noble updated the operating system of both the NOOK Tablet and the NOOK
Color to version 1.41. That update gave the NOOK Color new features, making it
work much more like the NOOK Tablet. But it also added anti-rooting features
to both devices. Since all NOOKs receive automatic updates, there’s a very good
likelihood that your NOOK uses version 1.41 or later of the operating system as
you read this, which makes it difficult to root.